Naruto: Journey to Now Part I - Two Month Side Stories
by ArbyMaster458
Summary: Taking place in Chapter 8 of Journey to Now Part I, the story will involve Naruto and his allies in some filler episodes/chapters. Some of the stories will be original while most are fillers that were in the anime that differ from the original. Suggest reading Journey to Now Part I chapters 1-8 to get up to date with Naruto's character. Has references revealing a bigger universe


**If you're wondering why this was made instead of FIREBRAND Part II Chapter 7B, it's because I've been a bit out of it. I have been working on it, honestly, and I've been editing early chapters for spelling errors. I don't know if I made it clear in another chapter, but I get very annoyed if I read a chapter of mine and find errors that need to be fixed. I also wanted to work on something else on the meantime to release some steam. There's also the holidays, which are stressful, and there's almost no time for me to get to writing because of real-life stuff.**

**After this chapter, I assure everyone, I will get back to FIREBRAND.**

**Now, regarding this story, it takes place during Chapter 8. There's a two-month gap before Naruto goes to look for Tsunade. He has no Rasengan, yet, and he has made a conscious decision to wear the village headband. I figured there was space for fillers to be put in during this two-month gap, and it'll focus on the ones in the anime I felt should be written. Also, the earlier drafts about the fillers I had were scrapped so...yeah. So are short, some are huge. Either way, I'm doing a little brain exercise so get some stress out.**

**There'll be serious chapters, there'll be comedic ones, and some too bizarre to fathom.**

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**Chapter 1: Naruto Takes Survival Exercises Too Serious! Questions at a Campfire!**

**Based on:** **Follow My Lead! The Great Survival Challenge**

* * *

**Hidden Leaf**

**Hokage's Office**

"No...I'm sorry, but I am not going to do this mission, Hayabusa-sama." Naruto would not have it. He knew he was denying Ryu's father's request, but he wasn't going to babysit three students during an important training session with Ryu, who was about to teach him the Izuna Drop.

"I understand I interrupted an important training day for you, but the team organization has already been announced to the students," said Jo. "Is there a reason why you won't take it?"

"I am not always good with kids. Second, if you put me in charge of them, those kids won't handle the real survival skills I'll be teaching them." Jo tells Naruto he still needed to do it, and there was no one else who could take his place. And if the students didn't listen, it was on them for not taking the lessons seriously.

"Naruto, if you don't do this, those three kids will be held back a lesson. Please, just do it." Letting out a sigh, Naruto agreed to it but adds how he will be showing the students under him real survival. "Now...Who am I in charge of?"

**Ninja Academy**

"Oh...no..." Naruto massaged his head in annoyance when he found himself in charge of Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon. Looking at Iruka, Naruto shot a "Really?" expression on his face. Iruka assured the blond the election was (honestly) random. In truth, Konohamaru switched the names of the ninjas in charge of them while Iruka wasn't looking.

"Don't be like that Naruto. It's only for one night and two days, all to go up on the Great Stone Face of Warudakumi on the summit of Mount Takurami." Naruto said nothing as Konohamaru noted it must be destiny if they were put in Naruto's care. "Well Destiny is full of it at times, Konohamaru. Also..." Turning to Udon, he asked him why he hasn't wiped his nose yet.

"Sor-"

"Don't apologize, just grab a tissue and wipe your nose," said the blond, being a bit rude about it. Noticing Udon had no tissues to use, Naruto sighed before giving him a box of them.

"Alright students, gather around." As Naruto and his friends, excluding Lee, who was absent due to his injuries, and Sasuke, who was out on a mission with Kakashi, along with their little squads gather, Iruka starts explaining the outdoor training.

"The team leader will NOT take routes other than the ones indicated on the map in order to ensure the safety of the Academy students. Along the way, there will be obstacles such as instructors disguised as enemy Ninja, as well as traps and the like. You and the Academy students should be able to safely avoid them if you act according to the instructions of the team leaders. The team that brings the secret document hidden there back to the village will have completed the training upon crossing the finish line."

**"What is this, Amazing Race?" **Naruto wondered. **"It would have made sense to prepare more of them for the exercise."**

"Now, any questions?" asked Iruka, Ino asking out loud why Shikamaru didn't have to do the exercise when Naruto, a Chūnin like her teammate, had to. "Shikamaru is one of the ninjas assigned to help me with testing the students. Now if there are no other questions, please meet with your team and make the proper preparations within the one-hour time limit before the exercise begins."

**Konoha Forest**

**3 hours later**

"Listen carefully, Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon. An important thing about survival is acquiring food with your own resources. In nature, there's bound to be-" Naruto stops as he hears the ruffling of chips in Konohamaru's bag. "Konohamaru...give me your bag." Though wondering why, Konohamaru gives Naruto his bag. Opening it, Naruto takes out a huge bag of consomme-flavored potato chips. Dropping it on the ground, Naruto empties the rest of Konohamaru's bag, finding chocolate, lollipops, cup ramen, and beef jerky in it.

"I gave you a list of equipment to buy with the money I gave each of you. Why didn't you follow it?" he asked, sounding a bit furious that the grandson of the late Third Hokage didn't follow the list.

"I figured since Moegi and Udon were grabbing equipment, we could simply share, so I decided to stock up on snacks," Konohamaru explained.

"That food would only last a day. I allowed you to go buy the necessary equipment on you own because I wanted to put my trust in you. It seems I was wrong to think you could do one simple task," Naruto said in a harsh tone, Konohamaru finding the serious look the blond had intimidating enough to make him and the others sweat a little.

"I'm...sorry..." said Konohamaru in a frightened tone. Naruto didn't accept the apology, simply doing a little breathing exercise to calm himself.

"It seems your road to being Hokage is going to be longer than it originally was. If you were alone in the woods with these, you could attract dangerous animals, especially when you packed jerky." As Naruto seals the food Konohamaru bought into a scroll, he told the young academy student since he bought it with his money, he was keeping it. "Moegi, Udon, did you follow my instructions?" Moegi and Udon, though nervous from Naruto's questioning gaze, nod their heads yes.

"I can tell you're not lying," said the blond chunin, getting up from where he was kneeling before catching a locust and eating it, to the three students' shock and disgust. "Listen well, if you-"

"Naruto, did you just eat an insect?" asked Udon.

"Yes I did. Now, insects are excellent sources of protein. Wasps, bees, ants, dragonflies, locusts, grubworms, maggots even, can prove vital for survival in the worst-case scenarios." A bit pale, Moegi asked Naruto if they were actually going to eat insects.

"If situations are dire-" Once more, Naruto caught an insect, a dragonfly, and immediately pops it in his mouth, chewing and swallowing it before continuing his explanation to a further pale Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon. "If situations are dire, then you'll need to learn how to get used to the taste. I remember the first time I ate an insect. It was a huge grubworm, and while it was gross at first, once I tried it the second time-" For the third time, Naruto catches a cicada and eats it, finishing his explanation. "Once I tried it the second time, it wasn't even that bad."

**"Konohamaru picked the worst person to guide us!"** Udon thought to himself as Moegi cried and Konohamaru's face paled.

"That being said, since you three are obviously not ready for that, you'll probably put what I told you into account in the future. For now, let's get some actual food."

_"Re-Really?"_ asked the crying Moegi, who was trying her best to wipe her tears.

"Yes, Moegi. Now wipe those tears and listen up..." Taking out a small notebook, he told Moegi and Udon to look for the fungi and herbs he wrote down and to gather water from the river, while he hunts for meat with Konohamaru.

**9 minutes later**

"Naruto, I'm getting thirsty," said Konohamaru, who was following Naruto from behind.

"You should have thought of packing a water bottle, which was on the list I gave you," said an annoyed Naruto. "Konohamaru, the outdoor training we are doing has to be taken seriously. If you are alone during a mission, separated from allies, you'll need to take everything I am telling you into account and and use them when you need to survive alone in a place like a forest, or an island, or even behind enemy lines. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Naruto." Wanting to make sure, Naruto looks intently in the nervous kid's eyes.

"Good, you're not ly-." Stopping mid-sentence, Naruto puts his hand in front of Konohamaru, shushing him before he points at the rabbit in front of them.

"Oh, it's just a cute rabbit, Na-" Without warning, Naruto threw a kunai at it, hitting it in the neck, killing the small creature, to Konohamaru's horror. "You just killed it!"

"Have to. It's eat or be eaten or starve to death. If it helps, there are probably hundreds of other rabbits scatter out in this forest." Picking up the dead rabbit, Naruto tells Konohamaru one wouldn't be enough. Seeing another rabbit eight feet away from them, Naruto gestures Konohamaru into killing it. _"Me?"_

_"Konohamaru, if I move, it'll_ _run,"_ Naruto whispered._ "It's not a problem for me to catch, but this is an exercise you need to learn. As of now, you are far more hidden than I am. Ninjas can't hesitate to kill an animal when it comes to the survival of the fittest."_

_"Still..."_

_"It's hard, I know, but you need to steel your heart, take out a kunai, and kill that rabbit. You either kill that rabbit, or let yourself and others starve...__"_ Hesitating a bit, Konohamaru had to put a lot of effort into taking out a kunai from his pouch. _"Aim for the neck, take a few deep breaths and exhale, and throw."_ After calming himself, Konohamaru throws his kunai at the rabbit, the blade stabbing into the left side of its neck, killing it. Looking at Naruto, he receives an acknowledging nod from him.

"Did I do good?"

"You did well. Now let's meet back with Moegi and Udon."

**20 minutes later**

After getting rid of the poisonous fungi from the pile and teaching the three students how to build a fire to boil a pot of water and heat up rocks, Naruto tells them he was going to have them break down the two carcasses of the two freshly dead rabbits laying on a large pile of green leaves that were resting on a flat stone.

"Us!?" yelled Konohamaru and Moegi.

"Yes, and you know why." After instructing the two on how to successfully remove the rabbits' organs without ruining the meat, Naruto had them skin them, though not before slicing off the head and feet for the kids , Naruto personally removing the brains in order to use it for soup stock. From a distance, Iruka, who was watching, went pale.

**"Naruto, who taught you these things?" **After breaking down the meat, Naruto had the three dig a hole before he lined it with hot rocks and covered it with sand and laid leaves over it. After wrapping the rabbit meat in leopard plant leaves, the four placed them inside the hole, laying more leaves on top and covering them with more rocks for Naruto to light a fire on.

"How long will it take to finish cooking the meat?" asked Konohamaru.

"About 50-60 minutes," Naruto responds. "Don't worry, with the rabbit bones we have, along with their brains and the mushrooms and herbs, we can occupy ourselves with making the soup."

**30 minutes later**

While the three wait as Naruto cooked the soup, Konohamaru asked Naruto where he learned how to survive.

"I read books, simple as that. Unlike you three, I didn't always have the cash needed to buy food at times. I even had to save up what the late Third Hokage gave me. I'd fish and collect herbs for cooking just for me. As I got older, I watched survival tv, which is very educational I must say. When I left the village for a while, I had a master who taught me further survival skills."

"You had a master who taught you to survive?"

"A retired mercenary. I didn't get his real name. He simply went by Solid Snake, or just Snake." Konohamaru notes on how cool his name sounded. "It was only for a couple of weeks, but it was one of the best training I've had. I wonder how he's doing..."

"Survival aside, I've been wondering, do you have a girl you like?" asked Moegi. Annoyed, Naruto asked himself why that was the only question that was being asked the most.

"I am unwilling to share that information," he told the young girl.

"Why?"

"Because I said so," Naruto responds, sounding adamant, Moegi asking him if he could at least tell them his preferred type.

"Is it someone with a personality like Sakura?" asked Konohamaru, Naruto telling him he'd rather move to Mars than date someone like Sakura. "Someone like Ino?"

"...20%," Naruto admits, Udon asking him if he'd go for a girl who was as kind and gentle as Hinata. "45%"

"Oh, that's bigger than 20%!" said Moegi, asking him for the rest of the 55%. "She'd have to be as strong as me, or enough to have my back, and she wouldn't need to be saved every time."

"So she needs to be able to rely on herself during times when you're not available?" Naruto responds by telling the three the girl would have to fight her own battles and learn through it, though he admits how he wouldn't mind it if she had to rely on him 85% of the time, depending on the limitations of her skills or her bravery, along with her personality.

"So...you like Tenten?" asked Moegi, Naruto stopping his cooking, turning to face the three, a further annoyed expression on his face.

"You DO realize she has a boyfriend, who happens to be Hinata's cousin, yeah?" This served to scare the three, who tells Naruto they didn't know she was already taken. "Any questions I can answer not involving my personal life?"

"...How far do you think the others have gotten?" asked Udon.

"They're probably ahead of us," said Naruto, focusing attention back on the pot.

"WHAT!? What are we doing just waiting for lunch to finish!?" yelled Konohamaru.

"Relax Konohamaru. As the saying goes, slow and steady wins the race," said Naruto. "Even if we don't grab the document before the first person, you three have obtained the knowledge needed to survive outside."

"Still, I want to win," said Konohamaru.

"Victory is nice to achieve, but not always. If you put that in front of everything else, then you're dooming not just yourself, but others as well out of your own selfishness. Victories may come at a cost or have uncertain consequences. There'll be other chances for claiming victory. Don't forget that."

**36 more minutes later**

"Mmmmm, this is so good!" said Moegi, having taken a bite out of her cooked rabbit meat as Konohamaru and Udon savored the broth and the mushrooms.

"How is it so good!?" Konohamaru asked out loud.

"Any food is good when you hunt for it on your own and put time and effort into cooking it. Eat your fills," Naruto said.

"OKAY..." Watching them eat, the ninja Iruka was with wanted to go over and try the broth, but Iruka stops him, telling him they were here to observe, even as his stomach growled.

"What was that sound?" asked Udon.

"Probably a hungry bear," Naruto responds, Konohamaru telling the blond not to worry them during a nice lunch. After lunch, Naruto showed the three how to purify water from a stream, noting how important being hydrated was before catching fish for dinner later.

**Afternoon**

After making it to a certain point in their exercise, Iruka decided to test Naruto and the three students, surrounding the four with four of his fellow colleagues.

"You've made it this far, now, show me what you've learned until now!" yelled Iruka, he and his colleagues advancing towards them.

"Naruto, we're surrounded, what do we do?" asked Konohamaru, his kunai drawn alongside Moegi and Udon.

"What do we do? Simple..." In that instant, Naruto unleashed a large surge of ki that creates a downward force that stopped Iruka and the others in their tracks. "We bare our fangs."

**"This power Naruto is letting out is amazing!"** Konohamaru and his friends thought.

**"Na-Naruto, this is overkill..."** Naruto doesn't let up as he unleashed more of his ki, pushing the adults down further and further to the ground. "In a situation like this one, as the older one in the group, it's important for me to release a burst of energy to scare off enemy ninjas or dangerous animals, even incapacitate them. They will bare their fangs at you most of the time so you should never hesitate to bare yours like I am now until you know they mean no harm or have made themselves aware of the danger they put themselves in. Usually, you need to hide your presence and wait until they leave, but if you build enough strength for yourself, then you can do this."

"Uhhh Naruto, I think you're overdoing it..." Konohamaru told the blond, seeing Iruka and his colleagues struggle, one of them passing out a second after Konohamaru finished speaking as Naruto continues to apply power into his unleashed ki.

"Uncle...Uncle!" yelled Iruka.

"You may say that now, but who can say that you actually mean it in a real survival situation?" asked Naruto.

**"Naruto, how cautious and serious are you taking this exercise!?"** Iruka wondered. Sensing Naruto's ki from the Hokage's Office, Jo had to intervene and admonish Naruto for taking the exercise too seriously as Konohamaru and his friends looked on, Iruka and his colleagues leaving, though not before suggesting they not have Naruto teach any of the academy students survival skills after he was done.

"Naruto, while you are doing your job, please learn to not take things too serious," Iruka told him, cracking his own back after.

"...Fine, I'll dial down a bit."

"Thanks...I may need to see a chiropractor..." Without saying anything, Naruto walks over and helps crack Iruka's back. While it was painful, Iruka felt really great after, thanking the blond.

**10 minutes later**

"Hey Naruto, what was that move?" asked Udon.

"That was just a simple release of my power. It requires very intense discipline and complete mastery of both your energy and your body to use. Mastery over it can allow you to incapacitate your enemies by the sheer force of it. Pervy Sage, Kakashi-sensei, Bushier Brows-sensei, all of the Jonins, the late Third Hokage, and the Hayabusa and Mugen Tenshin can do it."

"You think you can teach us that move you did?" asked Konohamaru.

"No. You are not ready for it, at all."

"Come oooon!" Again, Naruto says no. Looking at the clouds forming, the chunin informed the three of a high chance of rain, telling them they had two hours until it rained.

"We can keep going for a good 75 minutes. Once we cover some good distance, I'll be in charge of hunting for more food while you three set up the tent and cook the fish. You three do know how to set one up, right?" The three nod yes at Naruto before following him from behind.

**90 minutes later**

Having returned to camp, Naruto congratulates the three for making the tent and starting a fire. When asked what he caught for dinner, Naruto showed them eight headless snakes, freaking them out.

"Not to worry, I made sure to cut off their heads and check for poison."

"How exactly are we going to eat those?" asked Udon. Naruto tells them they could eat it raw, otherwise, he can cook it for tomorrow as a traveling snack. "R-Raw?"

"Yes, raw." Once their fish was done five minutes later, the four dug into them in silence. Looking at Naruto, Konohamaru wondered what he should ask him. Finally...

"Naruto, have you ever dreamed of being Hokage?" he asked the blond. "The Hokage is a strong ninja who protects the village and is respected. That's what you've told me. So...Have you ever dreamed about it?"

"I did have a dream like that," he admits, to Konohamaru's surprise. "But, not all dreams are something you truly desire. Once I turned 6, I had a new dream, to get as far away from the village as possible. To never return."

"You wanted to leave the village?" asked a shocked Moegi.

"Why would someone like me want to be the leader of a village that shuns me and does not acknowledge my existence? Who puts me down?" Looking up into the sky, Naruto tells them of the places outside of the village, how, despite some places being ugly, was vast and full of mysteries. "In relation to my dream of getting away from the village, I guess I was truly looking for a place to call my own. A home that doesn't have people looking at me with hate. Who sees a human being and not a monster. But..."

"But?"

"I met Iruka and Hinata, who helped me understand the importance of bonds, of having true friends, and of the power to change how people see you through my own actions. After enrolling into the academy, I had found a newer dream, to have everyone in the Hidden Leaf accept me, through my actions. I want to let the villagers know I'm on their side, to put the effort into truly making this village my home." With a smile, the three academy students told Naruto it was a nice dream to have.

"Thanks, Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon..."

"When you do get everyone to accept you...What then?" To their surprise, Naruto told them he'd simply leave the village. "AFTER GETTING THE WHOLE VILLAGE TO ACCEPT YOU!?"

"The village would be fine without me. I mean, I did come back to it, the village still intact even though I left it for a few years," Naruto responds, finishing his fish after. "You may not see it now, but the world outside of this...There are a lot of dangers we, or anyone in that matter, don't know about. For places not every hero can get to in time, I will be the one who can go where others can't and help them." Though sad at the thought of Naruto leaving the village to be on his own, they understood his reason. "That and I also want to be a writer."

"...Eh?" EHHHHH!?" yelled the three. "A WRITER!?"

"Of course," said Naruto, sounding mellow about it. "When I am not training or doing missions, I am writing. I'm currently writing my second novel, and it has four chapters already."

"Second!?"

"I wrote my first one while I was away from the village. Got in third place in a contest I took part in, along with some prize money," he told them.

**"Un...Unbelievable..."** Feeling a drop of water land on his head, Naruto told them they should call it a day and go sleep.

**The next day**

After waking up and eating the snakes Naruto cooked, the three managed to make it to the Great Stone Face of Warudakumi on the summit of Mount Takurami, managing to beat the others to the document, Konohamaru surprised by how being slow and steady was working for them. When they found themselves surrounded by Kiba, Shino, Tenten, and Ino, along with their teams, Naruto knocked them out by overwhelming them with his ki, to the shock of Iruka and Shikamaru, who didn't expect Naruto to not go easy on the others, telling them he did dial his abilities down.

After making it to the finish line with his team, Naruto was once again admonished by Jo for not dialing his powers down more as Kureha held back a laugh and Ryu facepalmed himself, thinking he should've sealed his ki before the exercise. As punishment, Naruto had to help Jo with his duties, working the blond like a horse.

**Naruto's House**

**8:30 pm**

"Tired..." Naruto said to himself as he arrived home from helping out Jo without breaks. Exiting the kitchen, Kureha welcomed him back home.

"Would you like dinner, a bath or maybe...an aspirin?" asked the shrine maiden.

"An aspirin or two would be nice, as well as dinner, thanks." Sitting down on his chair at the dinner table, Naruto popped the aspirin Kureha gave him into his mouth before he's presented with a bowl of soba and grilled chicken and soup. As usual, Naruto felt his body rejuvenate, his heart warming up whenever he ate Kureha's cooking. "Where's Ryu?"

"He went on a mission with Momiji, so they'll be gone until tomorrow," she answered. "Tomorrow I'll be teaching you until Ryu comes back."

"Sounds good," Naruto said with one of his rare smiles as Kureha made herself a bowl and ate with him.

"You really caused some trouble, Naruto. I know you were thinking of possibilities that might arise in a real scenario, but you don't need to take it too far. Next time you do a survival exercise with academy students, if there ever is a next time, I should watch you instead of Iruka." Naruto tensed when Kureha said that, knowing how scary she could be.

**9:00 pm**

Once he finished eating and rinsing the dished, he found Kureha asleep on the table. With a light smile, he brought her to the guest room to sleep. After gently closing the door, Naruto left for the basement, where he began working on his second novel until ten o'clock.


End file.
